Big senior class has Rim of the World feeling good

It only took one day of working in pads for Rim of the World coach Bob Gradillas to remember how nice it was to have a team full of seniors.

“We are so much farther ahead right now than we were at this point last year,” Gradillas said. “Everyone is on the same page and working well together and I think our experience from last year is a big reason for that. Even with the first practice the difference was startling.”

The Fighting Scots did lose some players from their 4-6 team of a year ago – a team that missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005 – namely running back Dillon Pretzinger, who ran for 1,267 yards and 18 touchdowns a year ago. But Pretzinger missed four games due to injury, something that was a bit of a theme for Rim a year ago.

“We got hit hard by injuries last year and for a while, it was hard for us to do much of anything,” Gradillas said. “We lost Dillon, we lost some offensive linemen and it was a struggle. But if anything, the experience those kids got will help us this year.”
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Air of familiarity at Silverado

Silverado coach Carl Posey feels like a bit of a lone wolf in the Desert Sky League. After an offseason in which the other four schools in the league changed coaches, Posey returns for an eighth season in charge of the Hawks.

“It’s been a pretty strange offseason up here,” Posey said. “Usually you hear things about what other teams are doing and have a general expectation based on who is returning at coach, but you can’t do that when everyone else in the league is changing coaches. It’s tough to really know what to expect.”

Posey also isn’t sure what to expect from his team. Graduation decimated his 5-5-1 team from a year ago, as only four starters return, and a small senior class leaves the Hawks dependent on juniors and sophomores to mature quickly.

“The thing of it is that when the current senior class was freshmen, it was an extremely big class,” Posey said. “We’ve had a lot of kids either move away or just not continue on with the program. For whatever reason, a lot of kids weren’t able to stick it out and make it to this point.”
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Big Bear getting that old championship feeling

After three weeks of practice, Big Bear coach Dave Griffiths has a very good feeling about the chemistry of his team. It’s such a good feeling that Griffiths isn’t shying away from comparisons from the great teams of seasons past.

“This senior class is about as close and as good as any that we have had since I’ve been here,” Griffiths said. “They are right there with the (CIF championship) 2006 team. That’s how good I feel about this group. Of course injuries will always be a factor on a team with our numbers, but if we stay healthy, I think we could do some things this year.”

A lot of Griffiths’ confidence comes from the return of senior Zakk Planz at quarterback. A starter since midway through his sophomore year, Planz (6-1, 193) runs Big Bear’s option offense deftly, rushing for 745 yards and 11 touchdowns while throwing for another three touchdowns. He may not necessarily be the threat that Kriss Proctor used to be on the mountain, but he’s plenty capable of taking over a game.

“Having a three-year starting like Zakk coming back at quarterback means a lot, especially with the type of offense we run,” Griffiths said. “Timing means everything and have a talented veteran like Zakk back there helps everything go.”
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Citrus Valley looking to take the next step

With his first class of seniors finally taking the field in year three of Citrus Valley football, Blackhawks coach Peter Smolin is starting to see his vision for the Blackhawks program take shape. But he realizes that Citrus Valley isn’t quite at the “normal” stage yet.

“We are still going to be young,” Smolin said. “We’ll be pretty junior dominated – I think we only have six seniors that will start this year. But these guys are starting to look like men. Physically the difference between now and two years ago, even now and last year, is significant.”

One of the “men” Smolin is referencing is junior tight end Luke Taylor. Taylor (6-5, 240) has already started to create some buzz on the recruiting trail, as he was invited to USC’s Invite-only summer camp this year. Starting quarterback Dalton Douglas (6-4, 210) and offensive lineman Nick Hospodar (6-4, 255), also juniors, also pass the looks test with flying colors.

Hospodar is a rarity on the Blackhawks though, as Citrus Valley is low on size and high on smaller skill-position players, something that Smolin hopes his team will be able to work around.
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Miller embarks on the Soward era

The 2010 season ended about as awkwardly as it could have for Miller, as the Rebels had a senior hazing incident spiral out of control and cost coach Jeff Strycula his job the night before they were going to play for a league title against Redlands East Valley. Predictably, the dysfunctional Rebels lost and were eliminated from postseason consideration despite finishing in a second-place tie in the Citrus Belt League.

But new coach Marcus Soward, who was hired to replace Strycula in the offseason after spending the past three years as Arroyo Valley’s head man, hasn’t encountered any of the awkwardness and chaos that spelled the end of the 2010 season.

“It’s a great atmosphere out here,” said Soward, who has also coached at San Bernardino High School. “It’s a very family-oriented program and everyone is working well together. There are a lot of high-character kids, which makes it easy to coach.”

The Rebels don’t have a lot coming back from last year, as the Rebels were full of seniors in 2010. But Miller does receive perhaps the biggest impact transfer in the county in senior linebacker Reshawn Hooker (6-2, 210), who has 14 scholarship offers already after a first-team all-San Andreas League season at Arroyo Valley last year as a junior.
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Confidence growing in Yucaipa

As first years on the job go, Justin Price’s at Yucaipa ranks pretty high. The former Granite Hills coach led a senior-dominated team to its best finish in the Citrus Belt League since joining the league in 2006, as the Thunderbirds tied Redlands and Miller for second place in league, making the playoffs after missing the postseason a year before.

“I thought we did some great things last year,” Price said. “We were playing REV in week nine for a chance to win the league title, which is a huge step for this program. We were a coin-flip away from hosting a playoff game for the first time in a long time. We are pretty proud of what we did, especially we didn’t have a full offseason to work together.”

While Yucaipa loses 12 of its 22 starters along with several key contributors, Price is hoping that having a full offseason will compensate for any lack of experience and keep 2010’s momentum going. Having three of those returning starters coming on the offense line helps even more.

Yucaipa is bullish on its three senior returners on the offensive line – Matt Parrish (6-5, 300), Tyrin Loya (5-10, 250) and Andrew Clarey (6-2, 290). Parrish and Loya started every game last year, with Parrish receiving interest from Division I schools.
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Jurupa Hills readying itself for year two

The best part of being in the second year of a new program is that the first year is over. Jurupa Hills coach Edward McMillon definitely agrees with that point of view.

“It’s a lot different this year compared to last year,” McMillon said. “The kids have been in the program for over a year and know what to expect, which allows us to work on some more things and really concentrate on getting better rather than teaching. Having juniors and sophomores gives you more options than having sophomores and freshmen.”

While the Spartans are a year bigger, a year smarter and a year more mature after their 1-7 debut of a year ago, size is still a bit of an issue at Jurupa Hills. The Spartans are pretty deep at the skill positions, but they are lacking for size in the trenches.

“We just don’t have that many big guys,” McMillon said. “We have a lot of athletes, but they all seem to be a little small. Hopefully we’ll get some bigger guys in time, but we are a pretty small team right now.”
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Senior-laden Cajon has unfinished business

Cajon High School has 32 seniors coming back from a team that went through the San Andreas League undefeated for the second time in three years en route to a berth in the Central Division semifinals. But there isn’t much satisfaction among the Cowboys, who still remember the painful 42-41 overtime loss to Colton in the semifinals.

“We hope that having 32 seniors that have played in some big games and have been to the semifinals will pay off for us,” Cajon coach Kim Battin said. “We look at what we have this year position-by-position compared to last year and we feel pretty good about how we stack up.”

Leading the way for the Cowboys is defensive back/wide receiver Damontae Kazee. Kazee (6-0, 175) was an all-CIF performer on defense and the leading receiver for the Cowboys offensively. He verbally committed to the University of Washington over the summer but is still receiving interest from all over the Pac-12, namely Arizona State and UCLA.

Kazee will combine with senior tight end Taylor Moore (6-2, 215) to give new quarterback Edwin Martinez (6-1, 215) some elite targets. Martinez has huge shoes to fill, as the former linebacker replaces All-Sun Player of the Year Thomas Carter.
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Serrano wants to ground and pound its way to success

If there’s one thing that Serrano has had during the last four years, where it has won three Mojave River League titles and has gotten to at least the CIF semifinals the last three seasons, it’s been a workhorse running back. Be it Cory Diederich or Dionza Bradford or, in last year’s case, Taylor Ruize, the Diamondbacks have been able to run the ball.

This year, the Diamondbacks have three tailbacks that they have faith in. Senior Darius Hogan (5-10, 170) is more of a scatback, while fellow senior Zak Tuman (5-9, 190) adds a physical element. Junior Michael Hawkins (6-0, 190) may be the best of the three eventually, as he has the size-speed blend that Bradford possessed. Add that to a solid fullback in senior Nick Heftman (5-10, 195) and an experienced, physical offensive line and confidence is high in Phelan for the upcoming season.

“We have three running backs that I feel can do the job,” Maholchic said. “We can mix and match them and play them more on defense because I have faith in all of them. It’s a good thing to have.”

Three of Serrano’s five returning offensive starters are senior o-linemen, with Mark Knapp (6-4, 300) receiving Division I interest and Anthony Mackesy (6-2, 230) in his third year as a starter. Tracy Costello (5-10, 220) also returns.
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Kaiser depending on youngsters to continue tradition

Being as good as Kaiser was last year, as the Cats won 12 games in a row by at least 12 points before being upset by Wildomar Elsinore in the CIF-SS Eastern semifinals, allowed the Cats to play a lot of backups and young players late in games. With 18 of his 22 starters from last year having graduated, Kaiser coach Phil Zelaya hopes that the “garbage time” playing time of last year pays off this year.

“The good thing is that we have guys that have gotten some time at the varsity level,” Zelaya said. “The bad thing is that most of those guys don’t have the experience of playing four quarters. That what we hope they’ll be able to adapt to.”

Where Kaiser was decimated more than anywhere was along their defensive line and defensive backfield. The Cats lost Division I talents in defensive backs Desman Carter and Davonte Manning, defensive linemen Walter Earnest and linebacker Dennis Taylor. In their stead are players that Zelaya is curious to see how they’ll pan out.

“I know they are going to play hard and play physical, I just don’t know if they are as talented as the guys we had,” Zelaya said. “I hope playing last year as a bit of a shock to the system and that it’ll help this year.”
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